Hitherto, the following methods have been used to perform extemporaneous playing of music by using a computer.
1. A keyboard of the computer is regarded as a keyboard of a musical instrument and music is played.
2. A few playing patterns are prepared and a desired pattern is selected and played.
The first method requires adequate keyboard playing technique and knowledge of musical theory and has a drawback in that, if they are inadequate, where is no guarantee that the music can be correctly played on the basis of the musical theory. The second method has a drawback in that the degree of freedom is low because music other than the prepared patterns cannot be performed, and if the number of patterns which can be selected is increased, the operation becomes complicated.
According to the above methods, therefore, extemporaneous playing having a high degree of freedom and which is accurate with respect to musical theory cannot be realized by simple operations without adequate musical instrument playing technique and adequate knowledge of musical theory.
According to the invention, extemporaneous playing is fundamentally achieved as follows. First, playing data of musical pieces to be played is prepared. The above data includes not only accompaniment data but also harmony composition sound data on the progress of the musical pieces. The accompaniment is subsequently started and played by the computer, and the extemporaneous playing is performed by operating a pointing device (for instance, a mouse) which communicates with the computer. The start and stop of the sound generation are indicated by a button of the pointing device. That is, a sound is generated only when the button is depressed. The pitch of sound which is generated is decided with reference to the harmony composition sound data. The motion of the pointing device is detected every predetermined time (i.e. periodicalily) corresponding to the tempo of the playing, and the sound pitch is changed as required. If the movement amount is large, the sound pitch changes significantly and is raised or dropped in accordance with the moving direction. Fundamentally, although the sound pitch doesn't change in the case where the pointing device is not moved, the sound pitch automatically changes to the correct sound pitch in the case where correction is necessary upon progress of the musical piece.
In recent years, with the advancement of computers, particularly personal computers, a computer of small size, light weight, and high performance has been developed and is used for not only office work but also for communication, education, graphics, and games.
For use with a computer, as well as for use with the widespread home game-playing device there have been developed various kinds of games including a role playing game (RPG), a shooting game, a playing card game, a mah-jongg game, and the like.
Computers are also used in hobby fields such as divination, go (a Japanese game), and the like, or the musical field such as composition and arrangement.
In the conventional playing method for playing by software, there is not a method whereby such playing is performed by using a hand held type position input device which is generally called a mouse and there is also not a method whereby sound generation control, a musical interval control, and other special controls upon playing by software are executed. Instead, in the conventional method, control signals are inputted by keyboard operation. Thus, there are inconveniences in that the inputting operation from the keyboard is very difficult, great skill and experience are needed for the inputting operation, the operability is low, and use efficiency is low.
In the conventional playing method, further, there are inconveniences, such as that since playing technique and musical theory are necessary, a person who knows none of the playing technique and the musical theory cannot use such an apparatus.
According to the invention, in an attempt to eliminate the above inconveniences, in a playing method in which software is inserted into a computer, the computer is operated by a keyboard, and sound is generated from a speaker through a sound Source, the playing method is characterized in that a hand held type position input device is provided. By operating the hand held type position input device, various kinds of selections and various kinds of settings in the software are executed, for example so that band members are set or a playing style is changed by a combination of the setting of band members and the selection of the titles of music to be played, an operator of the hand held type position input device can be allowed to participate as a member of the band, and sound generation control, musical interval control, and special control upon playing are executed by the hand held type position input device.
According to the invention as mentioned above, the titles of the music to be played in the software are selected by the hand held type position input device, the band members are selected, (the playing style being determined by the combination of the setting of the band members and the selection of the titles of the music to be played), the operator of the hand held type position input device can be allowed to participate as a member of the band, and sound generation control, musical interval control, and special control upon playing of the music by the playing software are executed.